Brookline woman sues state over son's isolation at Bridgewater State Hospital

Monday

Mar 31, 2014 at 11:17 AMMar 31, 2014 at 1:30 PM

Joanne Minich says in her son, who has paranoid schizophrenia, has been deprived of almost all human contact for more than 6,300 hours since January 2013.

Associated Press

A Brookline woman has filed a lawsuit against the state prisons department alleging that her 31-year-old son is being restrained for long periods at a state psychiatric hospital in violation of state law.

Joanne Minich says in her complaint filed Monday in Norfolk Superior Court that her son, Peter Minich, has been held in prolonged isolation at Bridgewater State Hospital in seclusion and continuously deprived of almost all human contact for more than 6,300 hours since January 2013.

She alleges her son, civilly committee following a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, has been placed in mechanical restraints for more than 800 hours over 12 months, for as long as 50 consecutive hours.

The suit seeks an injunction to prevent further restraint.

The state Department of Correction did not immediately return a message.